Light oil price trading around $78 in roller coaster week

US Light oil prices are trading around the $78 a barrel mark on Friday, in another oil price roller coaster week after a strong US dollar and weak stock markets triggered a 2 percent overnight fall.

“The market is directionless at the moment. Prices have been moving sideways between the $75-$82 range for the past month and we’ll need a lot more positive news for prices to break out of the $82 level, which I think is unlikely to happen,” said Tony Nunan, an analyst Mitsubishi Corp in Tokyo.

“The economic outlook in the US is still very uncertain. We’ve probably seen the bottom but there are still a lot of storm clouds on the horizon.”

US Light crude oil futures for December delivery edged up 22 cents to $77.68 a barrel by 0347 GMT, putting it on track for a 1.7 percent gain this week. Crude prices have swung with the dollar this week, jumping over $3 on Monday and then shedding over $2 on Thursday.

“While the past few months have seen a gradual turnaround in global oil demand data and oil demand expectations, there are still significant areas of weakness and dislocations,” Barclays Capital said in a report.

Tags:  light oil price, trading, US dollar